


Late for Christmas

by orphan_account



Series: Frameshift [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-29
Updated: 2012-07-29
Packaged: 2017-11-11 00:32:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/472449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The events of the Christmas Invasion, as experienced by the Ninth Doctor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late for Christmas

When Rose and the Doctor arrived on Earth again, someone had already gotten there. The Doctor cursed as he looked outside, and wondered if he had arrived in the wrong era. He hadn’t remembered anything about an invasion on Christmas of 2005. Perhaps he just hadn’t been here yet. He backed into the TARDIS and checked the screen, hoping he was wrong.

“Doctor? What’s going on?” Rose peeked out of the TARDIS door before the Doctor could stop her, and she gasped.

“Probably the wrong era, pay no mind to it,” the Doctor said, but the screen said otherwise. This was definitely Christmas of 2005, and something was wrong.

“Doctor, I don’t think so. I saw it on the screen when you landed. You landed in the right place, the right time,” Rose said uneasily. “But there’s a ship blocking out the sun.” The Doctor braced himself. Normally, he would have just run out and tried to stop it. But he still felt funny, and not entirely himself. This body still felt wrong, and he wondered why he was still alive.He shook the thought from his head, however, when he looked at Rose. There was something that needed to be done, and he owed her. She had saved his life, more than once.

“Then let’s go,” the Doctor tried to muster up enthusiasm in his voice, but it didn’t quite work. “Hold on.” Rose gave him a concerned look, but otherwise didn’t say anything. He closed the door and steered the TARDIS to her flat, feeling dizzy. He still hadn’t quite recovered from his incident inside the TARDIS, but at least it was better than being post-regenerative.

The Doctor went out first, Rose right behind him. As soon as he stepped out of the TARDIS, however, dizziness overtook him, and he fell flat on his face, losing consciousness.

When he awoke, the first thing he heard was Jackie Tyler’s voice. He realized he had been tucked into some human bed, with a teddy bear no less, and made a face.

“What did you two do _this_ time?” Jackie seemed harried and exasperated, but it wasn’t her normal snarky tone. There was fear behind her voice also. “D’you think he can help, when he wakes up? It’s not like the government is doing anything.”

“We came to help. I think he’s just…he’s just…we had a bit of a hard time, lately,” Rose managed, and the Doctor finally flickered his eyes open to see her.

“Exhausting adventure, last time. Still recovering. But I’m all right,” the Doctor said. “I could use some tea.”

“Oh, of course, as soon as he wakes up, he demands things - ” Jackie began, but Rose sighed.

“I’ll get it.” Rose rushed off, leaving the Doctor alone with Jackie, to his dislike.

“Do you _know_ what’s happened while you’ve been gone? There’s that big ship, up in the sky. And people are walking around all funny, like they don’t know where they’re going! Then Mickey and I got attacked with a bloody Christmas tree earlier! It was only Mickey’s baseball bat that saved us; the thing’s dead now,” Jackie snapped, and the Doctor put a hand to his head, her voice exacerbating a headache.

“I was a bit busy saving the universe somewhere else,” the Doctor snapped right back. “We came back for Christmas, like you wanted. We didn’t know something was going on.” Rose came back with the tea, and the Doctor took it gratefully.

“Well, you’re back now. Drink your bloody tea and fix this. I didn’t want to spend Christmas with _aliens_ ,” Jackie stormed out of the room. The Doctor frowned a little. He knew that by “aliens,” she meant whatever was up in the sky, but he was an alien too. Maybe he’d just leave Rose here for Christmas after a while, if he wasn’t welcome in this house. It’d be a relief to have some time alone, anyway.

“Help me into the TARDIS. I’ll have a clearer head, in there.” The Doctor pushed himself up, wobbling a bit, and Rose put her arm around him, helping him out of the flat. Rose called to her mother, letting her know where she was going, but the Doctor stopped her, once they got to the door.

“Spend Christmas with your mum. This is my job. I’ll be back later,” the Doctor said, and Rose’s expression turned to one of outrage.

“Oh, no. You’re not doing this again. You don’t get to bloody leave me behind.” Before the Doctor could react, Rose had stormed into the TARDIS, despite the Doctor’s protests. He didn’t have the heart to try and pick her up and throw her out, this time.

“Fine. But after this, _spend Christmas with your mum._ I’m spending Christmas alone,” the Doctor said tersely, and he tried to ignore Rose’s hurt expression. He focused the TARDIS’s coordinates on the ship above them, and he pressed buttons and pulled levers, hoping the TARDIS would land in the right place. He watched the viewscreens as the TARDIS materialized, scanning the outside. To his horror, there were people making their way up to rooftops. He only hoped they were trying to get to a higher place to see the ship. That was stupidly dangerous, but it was a lot better than jumping off a roof.

When he stepped out of the TARDIS, he heard the clicking of weapons pointed at him. He didn’t know who they were, but they announced themselves quickly enough.

“We are the Sycorax, and you are an intruder.”

“Yeah, that’s the general idea.” The Doctor strode forward, and he heard the Sycorax ready their weapons. Rose stood behind him, petrified. Then she stepped forward with him.

“We’re here on behalf of the Shadow Proclamation. You are invading an…ah…class 5 planet, and that is illegal under seventeen Shadow Proclamation articles! You will be reported to…um…Raxicoricofallapatorius, and your entire fleet will be confiscated if you do not retreat!” Rose’s voice was bold, and the Doctor quickly decided to play along.

“Credentials, see?” He whipped out his psychic paper, and while the Sycorax stood, bewildered, he swaggered right past them, looking around. He could see viewscreens, and sure enough, they were monitoring people on the roofs of London. Of more than London, it seemed like. Everywhere on the planet.

“Now that’s an interesting experiment.” The Doctor felt his familiar bravado coming back, and while he knew it was temporary, it was a relief. “Let’s see if I can mess it up.” He scanned the area and spotted a rather large red button. What good was a button if you didn’t push it? The Sycorax turned their weapons on him, and he turned around, waving a hand.

“You really don’t want to do that.”

“We’re also here on behalf of Gallifrey, and the Time Lords!” Rose said, raising her voice. “This is one of their law enforcement vessels. If you’ll notice, it says Police.” She pointed to the TARDIS. “Now unless you want both the Shadow Proclamation and the Celestial Intervention Agency coming down upon you, I suggest you lower your guns.” The Doctor was suddenly very thankful that he had told her about what Gallifrey had been, a few times. The leader of the Sycorax turned upon Rose and laughed.

“Gallifrey is _dead_. And there are no Time Lords.” His voice was full of mirth, and the Doctor saw red, the mention of Gallifrey’s fate filling him with rage. He did not care now, if the guns were to shoot him. He lunged at the button, pressing it down, hoping that perhaps it was a self-destruct button.

“It’s distracted them!” He heard Rose’s voice from behind him, and he stumbled back to her, cursing the fact that the Sycorax ship had not exploded. Rose could have escaped in the TARDIS, and he would have been left to die. He kept that to himself, however, not wanting to frighten her. Rose pointed up at the Sycorax viewscreens, and he followed her hand. The button had done something good after all. The people on the roofs had stopped moving toward the edge, and they were now standing around, looking confused. The Sycorax were trying desperately to get their means of control back online, but seemed unable to. The leader of the Sycorax let out a roar of rage.

“Then we will conquer this planet by force! With an armada!” The leader shouted, and the Doctor turned around, folding his arms.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” the Doctor said, and the Sycorax leader snarled at him.

“What can _one man_ do to save this planet?” The Sycorax leader sneered, and the Doctor walked forward to him. It felt good to be involved in conflict again, and gave his mind a thrill that he had not felt in a while.

“I challenge you to single combat. I’m the defender of this planet. If you defeat me, you can have it. If I defeat you, you must leave this planet, and never return.” The Doctor stood firm where he was, Rose at his side. The Sycorax studied him for a moment.

“Fine. But you will lose.” The Sycorax’s tone was deadly, but the Doctor was not afraid. For him personally, no matter how it turned out, there would be something in it for him.

When they stepped outside to fight, there were no guns, no swords. Only hands, and sheer force. The Doctor liked it best that way, in his incarnation. He had fought with a sword, more than once. But in those incarnations, he had been pretty, a dandy, more dignified. The war had made him a bit more rough around the edges, now.

The leader lunged at him, but the Doctor was prepared. He jumped forward and took a hold of the Sycorax’s cape, pulling it and the being attached to it down to the ground. The Sycorax’s head slammed against the floor, and the Doctor put a foot on his shoulder, holding him down.

The Sycorax threw him off easily, though, and the Doctor found himself flying back, skidding to a stop just at the edge of the ship’s balcony. The Sycorax loomed over him, and the Doctor struggled to get up. The Sycorax raised his foot, ready to kick the Doctor off the ship, but the Doctor darted forward, grabbing his leg. He flipped the Sycorax over, and with a terrible scream, the Sycorax flew backward over the Doctor’s head, sailing into the air and off the ship. The momentum propelled the Doctor closer to the edge, too, and he found himself slipping off. He scrambled to find a handhold, but he only found one, and he hung from the edge, dangling in the wind.

“Doctor!” Rose rushed forward and grabbed his hand, trying her best to haul him up. The Doctor didn’t help her, for a moment. It would be so easy just to let go. It really, really would.

“Snap out of it, Doctor!” Rose pulled harder, and the Doctor cringed. She was always going to call him out on that, pull him away from the edge. That was what she did, because she was Rose. He looked up at her, almost angry, but he couldn’t be angry at her. Not today. Finally, with a burst of renewed strength, he tried his best to struggle upward, finding a foothold. He pushed himself back up onto the edge with the help of Rose, laying there for a moment, breathing hard.

“You bloody idiot. Did you think I was ever going to let you fall?” Rose sounded both furious and relieved, and the Doctor pushed himself up. After a moment, he hugged her, not replying to her with words.

The Sycorax were running now, and the Doctor saw a few humans run out the door, toward them. He looked at them, mindboggled, for he definitely recognized one.

“What in hell are you doing here?” The Doctor asked, and he stood up, walking toward the woman and her associates.

“Harriet Jones, Prime Minister.” The woman reached out her hand for the Doctor to shake, and he did so. “Fancy seeing you two again! I figured you would be around, with something like this.”

“Why didn’t they kill you?” The Doctor went straight to the point. He knew who she was, and it wasn’t important right now that she was Prime Minister.

“They took us prisoner. I tried to negotiate with them, but it didn’t work. I don’t know why they didn’t kill me. We were only up there for a short time.” Harriet sounded out of breath. “But I am _so_ glad you are here. Come along now, they’re steering their ship away.”

The Doctor, Rose, Harriet, and the others made their way back to the TARDIS, but before they got in, the Doctor stopped, addressing the Sycorax who were left in charge.

“Stay away from this planet. It is _defended._ ” The Doctor’s voice was cold, and while the Sycorax did not respond, he saw them accelerate their speed even faster than before. He stepped into the TARDIS, shutting the door, and left the ship.

They landed on the street, and the Doctor followed all of them out, looking up at the ship. It was flying away now, and good riddance.

“Are there more like them, out there?” Harriet asked, and the Doctor turned to look at her.

“Course there are. And your planet’s a loud one. You keep sending out all these signals and noises. Someone’s bound to notice. Apparently, these guys did,” the Doctor said, and Harriet turned away for a moment. She began to speak into her phone, and the Doctor wondered what she was saying.

“Torchwood, go ahead.”

Suddenly, beams of light shot into the sky and after the ship, and before their eyes, the ship exploded. The Doctor was stunned as he saw it, and then he turned on Harriet, suddenly full of rage.

“You didn’t _need_ to do that. They were going away,” the Doctor hissed, but Harriet’s expression was solemn.

“You can’t be here all the time, Doctor. This planet is not just defended by you.” Her voice was as cold as the Doctor’s had been, earlier, and the Doctor gritted his teeth. He almost turned upon her, and the number of things he could do to her went through his head.

“Should have warned the Sycorax. The humans are the real monsters,” he muttered, and he turned away from Harriet. There was a biting voice in the back of his head, however. Who was he to talk? Harriet and her forces had murdered one ship. That was like squashing a bug, compared to what he’d done. Did he even have the right to press his morals, anymore? After all, what morals did he have left, these days?

“Rose, we’re going.” The Doctor turned on his heel and stomped back toward the TARDIS. After a moment’s hesitation, Rose followed behind him, and when they got back into the TARDIS, the atmosphere was tense.

“I’m taking you to spend Christmas with your mum. No buts about it,” the Doctor said after a while. “I’ll come back for you when you’ve finished.”

“I’m not letting you spend Christmas alone, Doctor.” Rose turned on him, and he looked at her, pausing the TARDIS for a moment. He found he couldn’t look at her face without feeling guilty for the things he had thought, earlier. It had been so long since it was so easy for him to give up on himself, and on life.

“I’m spending it alone.” The Doctor’s voice was half-hearted, though, and Rose put a hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry, Doctor. You’re going to have a proper Christmas, with me and my mum and Mickey. Something needs to cheer you up.” Rose almost sounded sad, and the Doctor felt something twist in his heart.

“All right, all right. I’ll come with,” the Doctor said after a while. “As long as I don’t have to eat your mother’s fruitcake.”

Rose laughed, and the sound soothed him a little. Maybe things were going to be all right. Rose still found reasons to be happy. Maybe he could, too.


End file.
